Electric street or station indicator



(No Model.) j 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. H. ALWIBS. ELEGTRIG STREET 0R STTIN INDIATOR. No. 571,738. Patented Nov. 24, 1896.

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H. ALWIBS.

ELECTRIC STREET 0R STATION INDICATOR. N0. 571,738. Patented Nov. 24, 1896.

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(No Model.)

H. ALwls. ELECTRIC STREET 0R STATION INDIGATGR.

N0. 571,738. Patente-d Nov. 24, 1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT rricn.

HERMAN ALIVIES, OF ST'. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

ELECTRIC STREET OR 4STATION INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 571,738, dated November 24, 1896.

Application iled August l0, 1895- Serial No. 602,354- (No modeld fo HU v/:mm if muy] coincer/1.:

Be it known that I, HERMAN ALWiEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Electric Street or Station Indicators, of which the following is a iull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in electric street or station indicators; and it consists in the novel arrangement and coinbination of parts more fully set forth in the' specilication and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a diagrammatic view oi' the street-indicator and the wiring by which the operative parts of the same are Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the casing on the line A A of Fig. 6, the web being shown in plan. Fig. is a front elevation of the casing. Fig. i is an enlarged sectional detail on the line B B of Fig. 6. Fig. is a section on C C of Fig. (3, taken through the rotating disk carried by the current ni aking and breaking roller. Fig. G is a section on D D of Fig. 2, taken through the casing, but showing the interior in elevation. Fig. T is a section on E of Fig. G, and Fig. S is an enlarged section of one end ot' the current making and breaking roller or the end which carries the revolving disk.

The object of my invention is to construct a street or station indicator', which is carried on the car and which is automatically and electrically operated from the current of the main or line wire, or the light-wire forming a continuation thereof, the mechanism oi such indicator being set in motion at stated points along the route and indicate the next succeeding station or street after a previous one has been passed.

The improvement consists in the several new combinations of mechanical elements to be more particularly referred to in the speciiication and pointed out in thc claims.

In detail the device may bc described as follows:

ll'ith the except-ion of the wiring the operating parts of the present indicator are confined in a suitable box or casing l, the front of which has an opening 2, through which the stations or streets can be read on the web 3,

passing over the front and rear rollers et 5, respectively, the roller 4 being operated in one direction by an electric motor G and the roller 5 being operated in the reverse direction by a motor 7, only one motor of course being 0perated at a time, as will more fully subsequently herein appear. The line\vire is represented by 8, the same being supported at intervals by the guy wires or ropes 9. Disposed adjacent to the line-wire and carried by the guy-wires at stated intervals along the line are a series of circuit-closing plates 10, which are adapted to be struck bythe upper ends of the weighted arms il, insulated from one another and loosely pivoted on a pin l?, carried at the free end of a laterally-projecting bracket 123, carried at the upper end of the trolley-pole 14. As the car is advancing along the route the arms il simultaneously ride over the arms of the plate l0, thereby closing an electric circuit coming from Ithe main light wire c., said current passing through the Wires l), returning through the arms ll and 'plate l0 along the wires c, passingr thence along wire d, through an energizing-magnet 15, thence through the wire c to the ground wire The current thus energizes the magnet 15, causing the latter to momentarily attract the armature 16, which latter forms an arm projecting'laterally from a reciprocating intercepting-bar 17, mounted between the end walls of the casing intermediate of the windingnollers 4 5, the said bar being shifted in its bearings in one direction n by the energizing action of the magnet under circumstances when the arms ll strike the circuit-closing plates l0 and being returned or shifted to its original position by the resilientaction of a coiled spring 1S, interposed between one of the end walls of the casing and the adjacent end of the bar, said spring encircling the pin or stem I9, by which the bar is supported at that end.

To prevent the turning of the bar in its bearings, an additional guide-pin 2O is provided therefor, which passes through a suitable opening in the wall of the casing Formed along the bar 17 are a series of notches 21 22 22, for a purpose to be presently explained. Mounted above the reciprocating barl'? is a guide-roller 23, having peripheral radially disposed pins Zi projecting therefrom, thelat- IOO ter meshing with suitable holes punched in the web 3 along the'longitudinal edges thereof, the object of said pins being to prevent any slipping of the web consequent upon the momentum which the rollers 4 5 may acquire 'under the action of the motor by which they are drivenafter the current by which the motor is driven has been cut off. Loosely mount-ed over the cylindrical spindle 24, by which the roller 23 is supported at one end, is a circuit makingand breaking disk 25, the latter being made of insulated or non-conducting material and having a weighted segment 25,forming a part thereof, by which the disk has a tendency to always revolve around the spindle 24C to apoint to bring the weighted segment 25 to the lowest position, as indicated-in Fig. 5. Carried by the periphery of the disk adjacent to one end of the peripheral surface of the weighted segment is acontactknob 2G, which normally bears against the under surface of the long arm of a flexed contact spring-plate 27, the short arm of said plate being secured to the side wall of the casing and being adapted to connect electrically with a wire g, whose function will presently be described. lVhen the free end of the long arm of the fiexed plate 27 is released by the knob 26, the said arm makes electric contact with a cond ucting-plate 2S,with which communicates one end of a wire 7L, whose .function will presently be described.

lt was stated above that the knob 2G normally bears against the under surface of the long arm of the spring-plate 27, and it remains to be explained how the disk 25, by which said knob is carried, is retained. in said normal position. Carried by the inner face of the disk is a segmental wing or extension 29, the lower radial edge of which normally bears against the shifting bar 17 adjacent to the notch 21 thereofA Under these circumstances the segmental weighted portion 25 of the disk is held above the center of gravity of the disk or above the lowest point which the weighted portion 25/ would assume if the disk were left free to revolve about the spindie by which it is carried. New the moment the magnet 15 is energized as the trolley-pole effects contact between the arms 1l and plate 10, the bar 17, as before stated, is shifted against the tension of the spring 18, causing the wing 29 to come in line with the notch 21, thus permitting the weighted disk 25, of which said wing forms a part, to swing or turn about the spindle 2l, bringing its weighted section 25 to its lowest position and bringing the knob 26, located adjacent thereto, out of contact with the long arm of the flexed spring 27 and permitting the free end of the latter to make contact with the plate 28, to which the wire 71. connects. (See dotted position of the arm 27 in Fig. 4t.) It is therefore obvious that the instant the magnet 15 is energized the circuit between the wire g and 7i is completed. acts as follows:

This circuit thus completed Located at any convenient part of the car is a switch 30, having a rotatable cylindrical stem provided with two insulated peripheral sections or wings 31 and two conducting seetions or wings 32 32, against each of which are respectively adapted to bear the pairs or' spring contacting arms 33 34 35, the stem of the switch being normally turned to a position where only the pair of arms 33 will contact with one of the conducting segments or sections 32. The circuit which has been closed between the wires g and h, as above indicated, will travel from the light-wire a alon the wire t' through the switch, thence along the wire 7i, plate 2S, arm 27, wire g, through the motor 6, thence through the wire j into the groun d-wire f. The motor 6 being thus set in motion will drive the roller et forward, winding the web over the same and at the same time unwinding it from the roller 5, the web passing over the roller 23. The motor 6 will continue to operate and the web 3 will continue to be advanced until the current which drives the said motor 6 is again intercepted or broken. This must be done, of course, immediately after the web has been-advanced sufficiently to present to View one station or street marked thereon, and is accomplished as follows: Projecting at right angles from the inner face of the disk 25, in proximity to the periphery thereof, is a pin 36, which is adapted to be seized or engaged by a radially-projecting arm 37, carried by the revolving roller The disk 25 is thus brought back to its normal position, causing the knob 2G to again raise the arm 27 olf the plate 28, thus breaking the current and stopping the motor (i. By and prior to this time, however, the bar 17 has been shifted to its normal position under the action of the spring 18, (the action of which is instantaneous the moment the trolley-pole has passed over any plate 10,) whereupon the momentum acquired by the disk will be arrested by the radial bearing edge of the wing 29 thereof striking the bar 17, the said wing striking the bar adjacent to one edge of the notch 21. (See Fig. (i.) The momentum of the roller 23, too, is simultaneously arrested by the arms 3S striking the bar adjacent to the notches 22, the latter, of course, permitting the free rotation of the roller when it is temporarily shifted under the action of the magnet 15 to bring the notches 22 in alinement with the arms 3S. Thus it is that as the trolley-pole, or rather the arms 11 thereof, close the circuit from the light-wire with each contact with the plates 10, disposed along the line, the magnet 15 becomes energized, shifting the bar 17 out of the way for the free rotation and release of the disk 25, the latter closing the circuit by which the motor 6 is operated for the necessary advance of the web on which the names of the streets or stations are marked. The latter current is subsequently broken the moment the knob 26 of the disk is raised to its normal position under the spring-arm 27.

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The web Il is long enough for a continuous round trip, which the car may make. At the end of the round trip it becomes necessary to wind the web back from the roller i onto the claim isroller 5, whereupon it is necessary to set in motion the motor 7, by which the latter roller 5 is positively rotated. in said reverse direction. This is accomplished as follows: The stein of the switch 30 is turned in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. l until the pairs of contact-arms Si 35 come into contact with the condnoting-sections 32 of said stem, thus bringing the pair of arms 33 out of electrical connection, that is to say, bringing them against one of the insulated sections :ll of said stem. lf nder these circumstances there are formed tivo distinct closed circuits from the light wire passing through the switch, one current 'following the Wire 7s, passing through the switch, thence along the wire liuto the motor '7, thence through the wire in, and finally into the ground-Wire j". The other current passes through the Wires l) n through the switch, thence through Wires c d into the magnet l5. The motor 7 is run long enough to unvfind the full length of the web t' rom the roller i onto the roller 5, and the bar l? will be held in its shifted position (that is,

to bring its several notches in alincment with the Wing 29 of the disk and the arms 3S of the roller 23) under the energizing action of the magnet l5, thereby allowing the roller 2S and disk 25, carried by' it, to revolve freely until the Winding operation is complete. lllhen the web has been Wound back to its original position on the rollers, the switch is turned back toits normal. position, indicated in Fig. l, and the car is ready to make a new trip. To keep the Web 3 taut and cause the same to wind readily on the rollers, l mount over each roller i 5 the idle-roller 40, also provided with pins engaging the holes punched along the edges of the web, as best seen in Fig. 7.

Should any of the circuit-closing plates l0, disposed along the line, become broken and thus fail to energize the magnet l5 and run the motor 6 at the proper moment, the conductor can close the circuit by pressing the contacting p usb-button 5U, disposed along the Wire c, until the indicator shall display the necessary sign of the street which the car is approaching'. A suitable Washer 5l is interposed between the disk 25 and the Wall of the casing to keep the 'former in its place ou the spindle Si.

l do not limit myself to the precise Wiring herein shown and described, nor to the energizingnnagnet here shown. ln the place of the electromagnet here illustrated l may substitute a hollow cylindrical coil with a movable core passed through the same, said core being connected to the shifting bar and moving the latter with each shifting or the core, due to the induction of the current passing through the coil.

The device is entirelyautomatic, and, as is obvious, may be materially modilied in details Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

llaving described my invention, what l l. ln an electric indicator, a line-Wire, a suitable Web on which the names of the stations are disposed, rollers for said web, a series of circuit-closing devices disposed in proximity to the line-wire along the length thereof, a motor for advancing the web or turning the rollers on which the same Winds, suitable mechanism actuated by the closing of the circuit under the action of the circuitclosing devices, for arrest-ing the momentum of the web and rollers carrying the same acquired during the advancing movement ot` the web, and intermediate connections between the momentuiii-arresting device and the motor for alternately closing and breaking the circuit by which the motor is actuated, substantially as set forth. Y

2. lu an electric indicator, a line-wire and a light-Wire, suitable revolving rollers, a Web adapted to wind on and unwind from said rollers, a series of circuit-closing devices or plates disposed along the line-Wire in proximity thereto, a spring-actuated shifting bar carried by the casing of the indicator, an energizing-magnet having one end leading to the ligl1t-yvire and the opposite end to the ground-Wire, contacting arms carried by the car adapted to contact with the circuit-clos ing plates and complete the circuit of the l magnet, an arm serving as an armature 'for the magnet carried by the shifting bar Whereby the bar is shifted against the tension of the spring in one direction, a motor for one of the rollers of the web, a circuit closing and breaking roller over which the web passes, and suitable means carried by the last-'named roller for closing the circuit by which the motor is driven and subsequently breaking said circuit after the Web has been sutliciently advanced to indicate the next succeeding station, substantially as set forth.

In an electric indicator, a suitable line- Wire, a casing, rollers mounted in the casing for receiving the opposite ends of the web on which the names of the stations are indicated, a circuit closing and breaking roller also mounted in the casing over which the medial portion of the web passes, a shifting bar actuated in one direction by the closing of a circuit mounted in proximity to the lastnamed roller, said shitting bar adapted to permit the last-named roller to revolve freely and advance the web for one position of the bar, and to intercept and arrest the momentum of the rollers and web for another position of said shifting bar, a motor adapted to advance the Web the necessary distance for one position of the shifting bar and to cease operating for another position of said bar, and

suitable means for reversing the motion of the Web and permanently hold the shifting bar in position to alloriT for the reverse rota- IOC regv

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tion of the rollers on which the web winds and the simultaneous free rotation of the circuit closing and breaking roller over which the medial portion of the web passes, substantially as set forth.

4f.. In an electric indicator, a suitable casing, web-winding rollers mounted therein, a circuit closing and breaking roller over which the medial portion of the web is adapted to travel, a weighted disk loosely and revolubly mounted at one end of the said roller, an eX- tended wing carried by one of the faces of the disk, a knob projecting from the periphery of the disk adjacent to the weighted side thereof, a spring-arm against which the said knob is adapted to bear in one position of the disk and break the circuit leading to the motor by which the web is driven in one direction, a pin projecting from one face of the disk, an arm projecting radially from the periphery of the circuit closing and breaking roller for seizing the pin projecting from the disk and turn the latter with the roller during the rotation of said roller for the time the web is being advanced, a reciprocating or shifting intercepting-bar mounted in proximity to the circuit closing and breaking roller, a series of notches formed along the length of the bar, a series of arms projecting radially from the periphery of the circuit closing and breaking roller and adapted to normally bear against the shiftin g bar for arresting the momentum of the roller to which they are secured, the said win g carried by the disk having a bearing edge adapted to come also normally in contact with theA shifting bar in one position of the latter, the said circuit closing and breaking roller and disk carried by it being adapted to freely rotate in another position of said shifting bar, whereby the circuit normally broken by the knob carried by the disk is closed and the motor actuating the web may be set in motion, substantially as set forth.

5. In an electric indicator, a revolving circuit closing and breaking roller, a suitable shifting bar, an energizing-magnet adapted to shift the bar in one direction upon the passage of the car along successive stations along the route of the main line an d permit the free rotation of the said circuit closing and breaking roller, the said bar being adapted to assume its normal position after the passage of the car beyond the station at which it was operated electrically in one direction and thereby arrest the movement of the roller, substantially as set forth.

G. In an electric indicator, a line-wire, a light-wire, a car, a casing for the indicator, motors adapted to drive the indicator in opposite directions, a switch having two elcctrical conducting-sections and two insulated sections, an energizing-magnet, circuit-closing devices disposed in proximity to the linewire, contacting arms carried by the trolleypole for riding over said circuit-closing devices, the current from the light-wire adapted in one position of the switch toactuate one of the motors, and in another position of the switch to actuate the other motor, and permanently control the energizing-magnet, sub stantially as set forth.

7 In an electric indicator, a suitable traveling web, winding-rollers for the same, an intermediate circuit closing and breaking roller over which the web passes, means for periodically intercepting the free rotation of said roller, a series of holes disposed along the opposite longitudinal edges of the web, and a series of radially-projecting pins carried by the intermediate roller cooperating with the holes in the web, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignature in presence of two Witnesses.

HERMAN ALWIES. Witn esses:

EMIL STAREK, ALFRED A. MATHEY. 

